Building Magazine publishes latest Steel Insight

The latest in the Steel Insight series of supplements, sponsored by Steel for Life, is published in tomorrow’s (26 February) Building Magazine and is also available for free here.

The six-page steel supplement features the latest construction cost comparison update from Gardiner & Theobald, an article on the Steel for Life initiative and two case studies of steel structures used in school campuses.

In the cost comparison, two building types are compared using various framing options. For building 1, a three-storey office, the framing options considered are: steel composite, steel and precast concrete slab, reinforced concrete flat slab and post-tensioned concrete flat slab.

Building 2 is an L-shaped eight-storey city centre office building and cost models were developed for a steel cellular composite frame and a post-tensioned concrete band beam and slab. For both buildings the steel composite option is the cheapest framing solution.

BCSA Director General Sarah McCann-Bartlett and BCSA President Wendy Coney explain Steel for Life, a new initiative aimed at promoting steel’s benefits in construction.

Two school projects are highlighted, Holywell Learning Campus in North Wales and Wick Community Campus in Scotland.

Holywell is a complex steel-framed structure that resembles a figure-of-eight, when viewed from above. Using structural steelwork for this complex design was the only solution according to the project team.

Wick Community Campus is one of the UK’s most remote construction sites and its location has played a significant role in the choice of suppliers and materials on the project, including the specification of a steel frame.